Removing Rear Differential Cover

[pastorscott]

On my 04 burb I would like to change the rear end fluid but looking at it , makes it seem that there are to many things in the way to pull the cover off without hitting the ring gear. Anyone remove that cover ? any problems or tricks ?

 

 

Scott

[ken1mod]

Remove bolts and pop off, it may fall off. Absolutely trivial project. I put mine back together with rtv.

 

Ken

[Wolverine350R]

Like Ken said, it is simple. If it looks like the tank and whatever else is going to be in the way on the burban, you could jack it up some on the frame and let the axle droop down where it is easier to get to (don't forget to use jack stands).

[svensk]

Hah that sucks we looked at my brother in law's burban after we changed my differential fluid, and he doesn't have that drain bolt on the bottom of his that my truck has. How lame is that?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Hah that sucks we looked at my brother in law's burban after we changed my differential fluid, and he doesn't have that drain bolt on the bottom of his that my truck has. How lame is that?

 

 

 

My 67 didn't either. Just put a drain pan under it and loosen all the bolts. Pop it loose and all the fluid will end up in the pan

[Rolandd]

Some diff cases use one of the bottom cover bolts as the drain. If you have the cover off perhaps it is worth drilling and welding a nut into the cover so that you can drain the fluid more easily.

[ken1mod]

Just a tip, before you remove cover, make sure you can remove fill plug first. You usually want to clean out housing with a rag and solvent so a drain plug is no big deal. Most diffs in the world do not have a drain. You also need to clean the magnet.

 

Ken

[concours]

I always drill and tap my diffs. for a 1/8 NPT pipe thread and socket head plug. E-Z fluid changes

[rogerf]

Hah that sucks we looked at my brother in law's burban after we changed my differential fluid, and he doesn't have that drain bolt on the bottom of his that my truck has. How lame is that?

I will throw something at you even more lame. The Jeep Liberty diesel I just traded doesn't have a rear diff drain plug and Jeep wants the diff fluid changed every 12K miles/annually. The first time it needed done got the quote for the 12K service (change 2 axles & t-case) at @ $400 which did not include the $100 engine oil change or the tire rotation. At that point I chose to change the fluids myself and buy a very nice cast aluminum replacement rear diff cover with a drain.

[cerbomark]

easy, did my 04 silverado SS last year. If you jump over to the silveradoSS.com website they have a how to on that. I think I may have even posted on that one. If you are careful, you can loosen bolts , pry cover up a bit without removing the cover or the gasket. Let drain, then retighten saving you the gasket etc... I sugguest you read the from the other site and it will explain it very well.By the way, it didn t leak at all after using this method. http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15898

[sagent]

On the SUV's it looks as though the cover will not clear the anti sway bar and suspension arms but it will. I just did mine on my 03 Yukon and there was no jacking / etc required. Just unbolt and gently pry cover off. Look out for the fill plug however. Some idiot overtightened mine & rounded out the inside hex. It was so bad I had to eventually drill the plug out with a 11/16ths drill bit but I was lucky enough to save the original threads. The Suburbans / Yukon XLs should be the same as Tahoes / Yukons.

[cerbomark]

loosen the top filler plug before you do anything else. Just in case.

[GMCMAN06]

loosen the top filler plug before you do anything else. Just in case.

 

Nice truck, (and sleds). Did you get enough riding in this year? I am from upstate as well. Sorry to go off topic here but i need to reply 5 times before i can post

[cerbomark]

loosen the top filler plug before you do anything else. Just in case.

 

Nice truck, (and sleds). Did you get enough riding in this year? I am from upstate as well. Sorry to go off topic here but i need to reply 5 times before i can post

 

 

 

yea, it was a great year. put on about 500 miles. i m in speculator, ny ... part time only till dec. then full time resident. that truck in the photo was traded in for an identical v-max...the one there is a 4.8...i m going to post photos soon as i tint the windows and get it cleaned.. mark